Ford uses electric technology to develop new EV pickup to follow Tesla Cybertruck

Detroit — ford motorA $5 billion “bet” on the next generation of all-electric vehicles will incorporate up-and-coming technologies. tesla The Detroit automaker announced Tuesday that it will be commercialized in the U.S. with the Cybertruck.

This system, known as the 48-volt electrical architecture, has been debated in the automotive industry for decades; tesla was first available to consumers in 2023.

The auto industry has traditionally used a 12-volt system with lead-acid batteries in all vehicles to power vehicle accessories, but this has been problematic and led to recalls on many EVs. The new architecture instead uses the EV’s high-voltage battery to power everything.

Officials say the 48-volt system improves efficiency, allows for additional electrical bandwidth, and reduces weight by reducing wiring. Power can also be “stepped down” to 12 volts as needed using a new electronic control unit (ECU) that handles various groups in the EV architecture.

The new electrical system is one of many innovations that Ford believes will allow its next generation of EVs (starting with a $30,000 light electric pickup truck in 2027) to compete with Tesla and rapidly expanding Chinese brands in global markets.

“At Ford, we’ve taken on a challenge that many others have left off. We’re up against competitors, including the Chinese,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said at an event in August at a Kentucky factory that makes an unnamed electric pickup truck. “For too long, traditional automakers have played it safe.”

Farley called this a “Model T moment” for the company, referring to the company’s flagship vehicle that was introduced more than a century ago and led to mass vehicle adoption in the early 1900s. He also said this is a “bet” for Ford given the amount of changes it is making, not just to EVs, but to the company and its processes.

Ford expects new EVs, based on popular universal electric vehicles (UEVs), to be comparable in cost to gasoline-powered vehicles thanks to new technology and efficiency. The huge batteries that power EVs now make them much more expensive to manufacture and notoriously unprofitable.

The Detroit automaker said its new EV has 20% fewer parts, 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer dock-to-dock workstations in the factory, and 15% faster assembly time than a typical vehicle.

“This represents the most fundamental change in how vehicles are designed and built at Ford since the Model T,” Farley said at the factory. “It’s time to change the game again.”

Ford said these improvements, along with pricing similar to gasoline-powered vehicles, will lead to greater adoption of EVs. That’s despite a sharp slowdown in U.S. EV sales amid changes in federal support under the Trump administration and lower-than-expected consumer adoption.

U.S. EV sales peaked in September ahead of the end of federal incentives, accounting for 10.3% of the new car market, according to Cox Automotive. This demand fell sharply in the fourth quarter to a preliminary estimate of 5.8%.

Due to these market conditions, Ford recently announced a $19.5 billion writedown primarily related to the withdrawal of its EV plans, although the company said it will continue to invest $5 billion in new UEV platforms through 2027.

“We’ve been focused on giving our customers everything they can get in a good car,” Alan Clark, Ford’s executive director of advanced EV development, said at a media briefing. “In doing so, we think that ultimately we’re not only making a car that’s affordable, but we’re making a car that’s highly desirable.”

Clark, a former Tesla executive, said the 48-volt system offers significant benefits not just for the battery but for the rest of the vehicle, and is expected to continue even as 12-volt batteries reach maximum bandwidth.

“It’s cheaper, it has thinner wires, and it’s the future of cars,” he said. “So it’s clear that 48 makes the most sense if you want this platform to last more than 10 years.”

Ford says the new medium-duty truck’s wiring harness is more than 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter than the wiring harness used in Ford’s first electric SUV.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is Ford general motors A “how-to” guide to developing a 48-volt system in 2023.

Clark said that although Ford had already decided on a 48-volt platform before receiving the letter, it “certainly added fuel to the fire” and “was a useful starting point to see how Ford was thinking.” It also helped prepare suppliers to support 48-volt systems, he added.

The company on Tuesday announced additional details about how it is achieving its goals with its new EVs through a 48-volt system, as well as aerodynamics, team “incentives” to improve vehicle efficiency, and a shift to “gigacasting” pioneered by Tesla.

Gigacasting is a manufacturing process that can replace dozens of small traditional stamped parts with larger parts. The process requires large machinery to press large sheets of metal onto parts such as the vehicle’s fascia and substructure.

Ford says the new pickup has only two front and rear structural parts, compared to 146 front and rear structural parts in the current gasoline-powered Maverick light-duty pickup truck.

Ford also said the aluminum castings for its next EV will be more than 27% lighter than the aluminum castings in the Tesla Model Y.

“The cost of EVs is still falling significantly and this can only be achieved through innovation, and only at the system level to optimize the product to ultimately be what the customer wants,” Clark said.